


Beomgyu and His Lionheart

by orphan_account



Category: TXT (Korea Band)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - College/University, Angst That Barely Feels Like Angst, Boys In Love, Fluff, M/M, Mention of Tarot Readings, One-Sided Attraction, Roommates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-15
Updated: 2019-12-15
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:41:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,687
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21805348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Taehyun wasn't always brave.
Relationships: Choi Beomgyu/Kang Taehyun
Comments: 6
Kudos: 95





	Beomgyu and His Lionheart

Taehyun drops his mechanical pencil to the floor the moment a shrill scream cuts the stale, April night.

His heart drops, too, because that remarkable tone and desperation-filled cry for help is from none other than Beomgyu.

You know, that Beomgyu.

Without much thinking, he then leaps out of his room, socked feet sliding against the wooden floor as he rushed out of his room, mind racing over what had the older male gotten himself into to warrant such loudness. In a hurry, he doesn’t watch his limbs as closely as he should, and before he even gets to the doorframe, his thigh knocks into his studying desk painfully. Taehyun pays no heed, and keeps on running.

Worry twists his insides even if he can clearly hear Kai cackling madly at Beomgyu's continuous yelps from a few meters away. Kai had the habit of laughing even at the most horrific things, some sort of coping mechanism one day they’d have to address and fix, but for now Taehyun just hurries over to where they are, which seems to be the bathroom.

“—op laughing! Kai!” Beomgyu demands to Kai after halting his yelps to nag, stomping his feet on the floor. “Help me, you useless kid!”

Taehyun witnesses the older boy shake Kai's shoulders, a hopeless attempt at putting some sense into the younger. Kai just laughed harder in response, clutching his waist as he bent over in mirth, smacking Beomgyu’s hands away.

That was what first greeted Taehyun into the scene, and right after, he gathered enough logic to try reading the unfolding events.

It had never shut down this fast, his side of reason. His eyes could barely take in the view before him.

There was Beomgyu, in all his despair and dramatics, protecting his wet body with a flimsy towel, which managed to cover his entire midriff section and then a little further down his hips. His naked shoulders and bare legs were on full display, and all the water droplets running down his skin were not adding much to Taehyun’s deteriorating conscience. This was a little too much.

He choked on his spit, a loud cough following right after, and that brought the boys’ attention to him instantly. Kai looked at him with a knowing glint in his eyes as he was let go from Beomgyu’s embrace.

The oldest rushed to him, his bare feet slipping a few times due to the shiny surface coating the floor, and attached himself to Taehyun with what felt like claws instead of hands. “Taehyun-ie, please help hyung,” Beomgyu begged, securing his towel up and in place with his upper arm. Taehyun’s eyes felt like bursting out of his sockets, bigger than ever. He forced himself to watch Beomgyu’s face and not his body. He did not even peek down, not once.

Far from where they reunited, the shower was still running.

The oldest of the trio launched himself into telling what had happened to him, full of mannerisms and forced acting. He had Kai wheezing the entire time, the younger barely managing to look at Beomgyu without cracking up all over again. Taehyun did his best to pay attention to the retelling, distracted and distressed as he was this close to Choi Beomgyu and his semi-naked body, but he made it work just fine.

It turns out that Beomgyu had been taking a shower and while soaping up, something tickled his ear lightly. He innocently went to scratch at it, and his pure, pretty hand (his words, not Taehyun’s, but he would agree) came back with a huge cockroach resting on it, just being pals. (“Just being pals, Taehyun! Pals!”) Beomgyu shivered throughout the remembrance, body dripping and probably cold by now. Nonetheless, it was hilarious how Beomgyu had needed someone else to get into the shower with him for disclosure.

“It is probably roaming in there, looking for you, Beomgyu-hyung,” Kai teased meanly, and Beomgyu glued himself impossibly closer to Taehyun, whispering his denials.

Taehyun fought his own smile, fond and little wicked, he had won against his hyung’s funny antics.

And then he lost, when a tiny, very small chuckle escaped his lips. Naturally, Beomgyu whined, bringing Taehyun even closer to his soaking wet body, so embarrassed he tried to hide inside of the younger. This group of people had very concerning coping mechanisms. Taehyun always found it cute, how the other dealt with it, so he mostly let it go. Because he was whipped like that. “Why are you laughing at me, Kang Taehyun?! You’re supposed to be the sweet one!”

By then, Kai was crouching down, fingers collecting his laughter tears. Taehyun had an inkling feeling that Kai was now laughing at both of them.

He went into the bathroom and retrieved the cockroach with the help of Kai’s towel.

The sound of Beomgyu laughing at Kai’s indignant shriek was enough to send his heart into overdrive.

❦ ❦ ❦

Crushing on your best friend since you were thirteen does not ruin your life, but friends what like to nose into things that don’t concern them do. Taehyun said as much to Yeonjun.

“Hyung, I would never make a move on Beomgyu-hyung after he had been kissed by a cockroach. It was so big it could’ve been a rat, easy.”

Yeonjun responded with a grumble, shoving more food into his already full mouth. Taehyun is a firm believer that Yeonjun is never that desperate for food, he just wants to keep his mouth busy instead of answering Taehyun with words, like a normal human being.

“You just gotta do something about it. I’m pretty sure Soobin has actually started to take on tarot readings for real. His body can only produce so much bull-shittery for your selfish interests, Taehyun. I feel sorry for how he has to deal with a starry-eyed Beomgyu every single day, and lie to the guy on top of it.”

“I don’t know. How can I even do something about my feelings for him when he has so many better options? That boy is a people magnet and all I can offer him is me. Not much of a fair trade.”

The soft, pitiful eyes Yeonjun regards him with is enough to make Taehyun pinch his mouth together. He never let the other boys in on how much he felt undeserving of Beomgyu, but he did realize how shitty it was of him to rope them into his lousy love schemes. He couldn’t handle his feelings so far. And it’s been a while. He deserves all the pity Yeonjun is throwing his way.

The bell above the door rang, and in came an overly-excited Beomgyu and his pretty teeth in a gorgeous smile, dragging a not-so-excited Soobin by the wrist. “Yo!” He greeted, plopping down by Taehyun’s side, smiling so hard he could brighten Taehyun’s days for the rest of the week. Taehyun pushed the plate of food closer to the boy, ignoring how Beomgyu hadn't washed his hands yet.

“Hi there,” Soobin nodded to them, before settling in front of Taehyun. He looked tired, lips twisted into some sort of grimace that grabbed Taehyun’s attention, even though Beomgyu was almost vibrating in the seat next to him.

“Hyung, what happened? You don’t look so happy, compared to Beomgyu-hyung.”

A deep glare was all he received from Soobin as reply, and then Beomgyu was stealing his attention with the cutest squirm ever, barely containing his energy. The points connected in his head, and soon Taehyun braced himself for what was to come, as a Beomgyu this giddy only meant one thing. He put on his ‘best friend’ mask, feigning interest very convincingly. Yeonjun sighed, and his pity felt heavy.

“I was confessed to again today!” He exclaimed, hair bouncing on top of his head as he punched the air, and Taehyun stopped his breathing. “You know that sunbae with gray hair and the cool piercings, right? He’s so hot. I’m thinking he is the One Soobinie-hyung has been telling me to wait for! Finally! He was so sweet, too, and—”

Taehyun’s heart plummeted to the center of the earth, and burnt down to ashes, too, as Beomgyu rambled on and on about what seemed to be the second coming of Jesus Christ. Soobin kicked him under table, frowning sadly at him. So that was what had him so tired; lying to their friend took a toll on him. Taehyun could relate.

He just stared back, eyes void of any emotion, though his fingers were twitching anxiously on his lap. Taehyun couldn’t even fake his excitement anymore, at this point, too used to competing blindly against the entire universe. Too tired of fighting against his own feelings for Beomgyu.

“It’s the third time this week, what? Beomgyu, there aren’t enough cards in the deck for me to read if this whole ordeal keeps up,” Soobin said, unclasping a pair of chopsticks at the same time he said the word ‘read’. Menacingly. Taehyun rubbed his goosebumps away. “Also, don’t put all your expectations on this guy, or the one after him. You’d be surprised at how reluctant your One is to coming clean about love.”

“He’s taking his sweet time, that is for sure,” Yeonjun agreed and, somehow, it felt like a threat. He then called over the waiter. “While we wait out, let’s stuff ourselves. Taehyun is treating.”

❦ ❦ ❦

He has been screwed since the very beginning, honestly. Only natural when you know Choi Beomgyu. The entire student body and their moms can attest to his charms and beauty.

At first, it had only been Taehyun.

Beomgyu’s and his shadow, Taehyun.

Being his ‘shadow’ was never a conscious choice made by Taehyun, but by the time his realized his on-sided feelings played a bigger part in their friendship, he understood that he didn’t mind much, being there for Beomgyu in any way he could.

While Beomgyu enjoyed being the center of attention and talking everyone’s ear off, Taehyun would rather stay behind, listening closely to his best friend and, then, first crush.

Their dynamics worked perfectly, for Beomgyu was all bark and no bite, surprisingly. It was interesting, how he boasted about himself, bragged about his beautiful face or his body abilities, but would stick to Taehyun to see through the weight of his words every single time.

It happened when they were fifteen, but it had happened more times before that one. Taehyun had never been good at playing soccer, and neither was Beomgyu. Still, he found himself being talked into playing with some older guys because Beomgyu believed in himself enough to take on the age difference between them and the group of players.

Beomgyu was terrible at running straight, but he was astonishingly good at running his mouth. He was fearless to the point of stupidity at times. 

The goalie, a chubby boy with braces, yelled at Beomgyu from where he stood, calling him out on his avoiding the ball. Offended, Beomgyu walked up to the taller boy, stepping into his personal space and pointing his finger all over goalie’s face like he was in the right. Taehyun actually agreed with goalie, deep down, but he was loyal to Beomgyu like that.

Goalie got (rightfully) mad, and he cursed them out with words Taehyun had yet to hear this far in his life. He then cracked his fingers, one by one, a silent warning of what was to come, of his wrath. Beomgyu hurried over to Taehyun, tripping over his own feet in his haste to be by his friend. His pale face was stricken with terror, and he placed himself right behind Taehyun’s shorter body, absolutely hiding from no one successfully.

Their new enemy approached, furious and embarrassed at being told off by a brat, and Taehyun squared up automatically. Or as much as a fourteen boy going through puberty could. Skinny limbs and boney hands.

He punched goalie’s nose with all his might the moment he hissed a slur at them.

Taehyun realized that Beomgyu’s eyes could convince him of doing anything, that day. It was a very scary thought, and Taehyun would’ve pondered over it a little more had Beomgyu not held his hand tightly as they put on a cast on his broken one.

❦ ❦ ❦

Finally, the day was over for Taehyun. He gathered his belongings as quickly as possible after his class ended, dodged a group of acquaintances (“It’s like you wanna be miserable, hyung, I swear,” Kai shook his head at him disapprovingly), and made his way to the cookie store closest to their shared apartment for happiness in the form of a sweet treat.

Taehyun safely crossed the street, and entered the place that smelt like heaven. He chose the table closest to the wall, a bit secluded from the rest of the usually busy establishment, and sat down. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, checking their texting group chat, and decided on making conversation with his friends before ordering his usual: three random flavored cookies, one for him and two to go for his roommates. Soobin always said that they were blessed to have Taehyun in their lives, and Taehyun fully agreed.

When he hears the laugh that he’d be able to pick out from a packed comedy club, the world stops a little. Beomgyu rarely came down to the cookie store, so maybe—

Taehyun tilts his head up, eyes hopeful and searching for his favorite person. There by the counter was Beomgyu, giggling at something his company said, their body language flirty and personal and too much all of the sudden. Beomgyu looks like he's over the moon, and Taehyun’s heart hurts a little to witness that with his own eyes.

As if. Telling Beomgyu about his feelings? That was an idea that felt best left in the trash. He went home without any cookies to sweeten up his bitter mouth.

❦ ❦ ❦

Though he tried, Taehyun couldn’t nip his feelings in the bud. They had become an entire flower arrangement on their own, grown into a gorgeous bouquet of yellows and bright pinks. He always carried them around, patrolling around for the world to observe how pretty his self-cultivating infatuation had delicately bloomed.

He showed them off for anyone with eyes to see, save the person who helped him develop these feelings at all.

Taehyun had been busy taking notes from his book, palms smoothing out every crevice the paper had acquired through the years, when Beomgyu yelled out his name. He turned around, and barely fought the smile rising in his face as he caught sight of the older boy.

“Kai told me that you were having a bad week,” Beomgyu placed a folded piece of paper on the table, expression sheepish. Taehyun’s heart tipped over. “I was against it, you know, but he fake-cried until I appeased to him. This is a cuddling voucher.“

Taehyun was against it too, suddenly. “W-What?”

“Ugh! I just wanted to make you feel better after taking so many exams back to back, and Kai suggested it to me. It shouldn’t be so bad, but with Kai’s idea that’s a given… Whatever. I’m gonna get you a coffee—“

The younger one grabbed the paper before it could disappear from his eyes.

“No! No. Hyung, this is fine. Yes, fine. Very sweet, I’d say, and I’ll make use of this voucher, if that’s what you want?” It goes without saying that Taehyun wasn’t opposed to using it. The boy was on the verge of his seat, the burden of the day slowly lifting from his shoulders. Interacting with his hyung always managed to leave Taehyun in better spirits.

“I love cuddling with you,” Beomgyu blurt out, and blushed intensely after. His eyes were looking everywhere but at Taehyun. “S-So sure. I’ll be waiting for you, Taehyun-ah. Fighting!”

The hand that caressed his hair had another flower in Taehyun’s bouquet blooming.

❦ ❦ ❦

He opened the door to their room, careful not to make too much noise.

Beomgyu was on his bed, half-dead. Taehyun couldn’t see much, with the lights off and windows closed shut, but he could recognize the sick lump anywhere. He approached the other, dropping his backpack onto his own bed.

“Oi, hyung. Have you taken any of your medicine?”

“Kai jumped on me until I swallowed all of it.”

“So that is a yes. I’m glad, hyung, because it seems that your fever has gone down a bit. You were really burning up last night.”

Beomgyu coughed, hard, and Taehyun helped sit him up. Despite being younger, Taehyun had always been the caretaker in their relationship, and he wouldn’t have it any other way. Beomgyu thanked him before settling comfortably over the pillows.

“Kai screeched the moment I sneezed four meters away from him. Why are you always so good at being here for me, Taehyun-ah?”

Taehyun wished he had Kai to jump on him until he swallowed his feelings down, like he did to Beomgyu and his medicine. The younger opted to answer Beomgyu’s question with another question.

“Would you want some like rice porridge? Yeonjun made quite the show about how much he doesn’t care if you are in your deathbed, but in the end made me carry an entire pot of it home, for you.”

Beomgyu watched him, his face unreadable, and then nodded his head. It must’ve been heavy, because he pushed himself back to lying down and Taehyun left the room to warm it up.

❦ ❦ ❦

Beomgyu plopped himself next to Taehyun on the latter’s bed. Taehyun took off his headphones fast and heard him sigh. He was pouting. “Soobin-hyung refused to do my readings today. He is such a lazy person, selfish, too. Said that neither would Kai or Yeonjun-hyung, before I even asked them, mind you.”

“W-Why wasn’t I one of your options, hyung?” Taehyun questioned, a little baffled at his own question. Why would he drag himself into his own lie like this? He was a horrible person.

The other turned to him, doubt in his eyes.

“Oh? Oh. I assumed… I assumed you’d hate doing that for me. You always look so… Constipated whenever I bring it up. Well. Will you do it for me, then?”

The list of things Taehyun is willing to do for Beomgyu is far longer than otherwise, so he accepted the proposal.

He gathered some cards, unsure how to even pretend to know what he’s doing. He should definitely buy their Soobin-hyung a gift for sticking it out for him for so long.

Beomgyu clears his throat, seemingly a little bothered by Taehyun’s awkwardness. “You’re supposed to shuffle those, Taehyun.”

Taehyun gives up on the part and flips two cards randomly, successfully ignoring Beomgyu and his instruction. The Fool and The Lovers came upright. Taehyun shrugged. He looked up at Beomgyu, who was watching him back, intensely. He had never realized how serious Beomgyu took these sessions.

He breathed in and out deeply, and made a last minute decision. 

“Beomgyu-hyung, I like you,” he said, almost mumbling. Then he forced himself to speak out, louder. Beomgyu deserved to know about his feelings, as difficult as it was to talk about them. “I’ve liked you for a long time. Sorry I’ve kept it from you. The right time never came for me to confess my feelings for you, and when it did… I was too chicken to.”

“This was so anticlimactic, Taehyun,” was all Beomgyu responded him with. The audacity. He was smiling gently at him, though, and his eyes never lied. “You’re not even blushing, or stammering! Soobin was right.”

It took a bit of time for his words to sink in. Taehyun just stood there. Open like that, and Beomgyu wasn’t feeling the shift in the universe like he was.

“I think he’s actually good at this stuff, you know? When we were together yesterday, he said that my heart would find peace today, that my one would come to me for once and for all. They would be wearing red, and wouldn’t feel very enthusiastic about being with me.”

He was indeed wearing red, and he felt as much as resigned as one could be, confessing to their best friend and crush of more than five years. He fit the bill just right.

Beomgyu pulled Taehyun down, snuggling close to him. He kissed all over Taehyun’s face before settling on top of the younger.

“Thank you for confessing to me. I like you too, Kang Taehyun. And I have done so for a long time, though not as long as you. Sorry for not realizing sooner,” Beomgyu whispered into his neck. “At last, I am reunited with my One.”

Taehyun’s heart didn’t stop pounding even after taking Beomgyu’s words in.

❦ ❦ ❦

“I didn’t know that you guys getting together meant that we’d have to watch this type of thing on the daily,” Kai whined from where he sat on the sofa next to Taehyun, Beomgyu draped over his legs and the armrest comfortably. “That’s gross, hyung.”

Beomgyu’s face brightened considerably, happy to be annoying Kai without even trying. He turned his head and cupped Taehyun’s cheek gently. Taehyun’s heart thumped so hard inside his ribcage it felt like shattering into a billion pieces.

Teasing and slow, he brought their faces closer and closer, Kai squirming harder at the anticipation. Taehyun chuckled before finally pressing their lips together, perfectly like they were meant to be.

Kai pretended to vomit, very loudly. Yeonjun laughed at their maknae’s misfortune, messing his hair up. He couldn’t bring himself to tease the couple, much, knowing how hard it was for them to get finally together. Letting the kiss up to stare at Taehyun, Beomgyu’s cheeks pink and glowing, matching Taehyun’s. Soobin passed over them with a bowl of popcorn to the other couch.

“Stop resisting, Hyuka. My cards have been telling me interesting stuff about you, you know.”

“Huh?!”

In the end, Soobin had acquired enough knowledge to do proper tarot readings, as all that forced practice and studying of the cards worked out in his favor. Would he ever thank Taehyun for his new ability?


End file.
